First off, the site is now fenced off. Pictures of this to come soon.For safety and practical reasons, the site will be off limits as we begin construction, especially since it is next to a community center where small children go.

Second, construction has been somewhat stalled. There are logistics that should have been sorted out last term, but were unforeseen. Despite our best efforts to stay on top of things and keep the project well oiled, bumps in the road we have hit!

So, instead of on-site work, we are getting stuff done in the designBridge shop.

Some of the things we are currently working on that have no physical evidence (yet) but are moving the project forward in leaps and bounds are:

Designing and prefabricating the trough system (that takes water from the Brattain House and our structure to the rain garden)

Modifying our structure for an easier build—less steel, more wood, which means more things can get done in the shop before they are taken to the site

Designing and building the educational signage (one of the most important parts of our project)

There is still a lot of work to finish, but overall, the term is over; the construction phase of our project is upon us.

It was a fantastic review. Our clients, Meghan Murphy, Matt Stouder, Ed Naylor, Gloria Griffith, Janet Beckman, were all able to attend. Chris Jones, Richard Matinson, and several others who have helped us through the term were present, and Rob Thallon, Don Corner, and Jenny Young reviewed us.

There was overwhelming support for our project.

Pictures will soon follow!

Thank you to everyone who attended and has helped us with the project!

Willamette Graystone is a local distributer and manufacturer of concrete building materials. Willamette Graystone has donated over 300 sq. ft. of permeable pavers to our project, enough to pave our entire projects exclusively with the donated pavers. The permeable pavers will be an excellent addition to our education components of the project – the less paved areas we can have, the more water will infiltrate into the ground.

2. Site Mockup

We did a mockup on site this past Sunday! 2x2s, stakes, a couple of hammers, some caution tape, and lots of smiles. I’ve tried to include a couple of similar shots from the site and from the model so you can get an idea for what this project is actually going to look like.

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Events

We are a team of architecture and landscape architecture students at the University of Oregon. This is about our time in designBridge, a student run, student led, design-build program.

This year we've teamed up with the nationally renowned Sustainable Cities Initiative to design and build the City of Springfield a storm water management demonstration project to be built between a new elementary school and a community outreach program building called the Brattain House. The design will include a rain garden, a pavilion, and several interactive, educational pieces.

We will be working with the clients to pick a site, develop a program, produce construction drawings for submittal to the city, and ultimately build the project with our own hands.

This is our story through the wonderful, and, at times, insane world of design.